A federal lawsuit filed earlier this year against 50 Indiana cities, towns and counties, including the city of Muncie, questions the training of and standards for drug-detection dogs.
The Henry County Sheriffi’s Department is also among those named as defendants.
All of the defendants have drug-detection dogs trained by Vohne Liche Kennels Inc. of Denver, Ind., which also was sued. Paul Whitesell, chairman of the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board, which controls state training standards, and American Working Dogs United Inc., also are defendants in the suit.
http://liarcatchers.com/drugdogsweeps.html
The suit was filed by Kevin D. Miller of Schererville, who appears to be representing himself in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
Wayne and Henry counties, along with eight other sheriff’s departments, have filed motions to dismiss all claims against them for lack of jurisdiction over the subject of the suit.
Miller is seeking an injunction against all the defendants, asking that they immediately stop conducting K-9 sniffs of vehicles during routine traffic stops unless they present proof to the court and the Law Enforcement Training Board that their dogs and handlers were trained and certified by entities other than Vohne Liche Kennels and AWD. Miller also wants Indiana to establish standards for drug-detection training.
No hearing dates have been scheduled in the case, a federal clerk said.
Plymouth police officer John Weir and the town’s drug dog, who are at the center of the lawsuit, were trained by Vohene Liche Kennels and certified by American Working Dogs United Inc. from 2007 through 2010, the lawsuit said.
Miller was stopped by Weir during a routine traffic stop sometime during that period while driving with his wife from Munster to Fort Wayne, the lawsuit said. Weir told Miller his drug-detection dog alerted twice to the presence of drugs in the Millers’ vehicle, according to court documents.
Weir “rummaged” through the Millers’ personal effects and physically searched Miller’s person, but no drugs, weapons or other illicit materials were found, the lawsuit said.
Weir allegedly attempted to allow the dog to sniff Miller’s person, threatening that the dog would bite Miller if he moved. The dog was allegedly ordered to enter the Millers’ vehicle while Miller’s wife was still inside, the suit said.
Weir handcuffed Miller when Miller declared he would sue Weir, apparently because Miller had “threatened” him with a lawsuit, according to court documents.
The Plymouth officer was not trained on methods to avoid or minimize the chance of false alerts by the dog, the suit said.
In the suit, Miller alleges the Plymouth dog alerted to about 60 percent of the vehicles it sniffed, but non-trace amounts of substances the dog was trained to detect were found in only 25 percent of the vehicles on which the dog alerted.
The state has an obligation to protect people from constitutional violations arising from the use of poorly trained or improperly certified drug-detection dogs, the suit said. Because law enforcement officers may detain a vehicle for the slightest traffic violation and thereafter use drug-detection dogs to circumvent warrant requirements for a search, individuals are under the threat of unreasonable searches and extended roadside detention, the lawsuit said.
